


PTA Meetings Suck

by AliceMayWrite



Category: The Good Place (TV)
Genre: Best Friends, Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-06
Updated: 2020-07-06
Packaged: 2021-03-04 17:33:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,113
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25110178
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AliceMayWrite/pseuds/AliceMayWrite
Summary: Eleanor has just told Michael she wasn't worth changing for. He knows she's wrong.A missing scene for 3x06.
Relationships: Michael (The Good Place) & Eleanor Shellstrop
Comments: 8
Kudos: 25





	PTA Meetings Suck

**Author's Note:**

> I thought it was a little weird Eleanor went from being sad to deciding to accept Donna, and maybe Michael had something to do with it. (I love their friendship so much. )

Eleanor found herself leaving the PTA meeting just after her Mother was announced as the new secretary. She had so many feelings whirling around her brain that all she wanted to do was stand outside and be by herself.  
Props to her, though, she hadn’t made a scene like she had at Tahani’s engagement party. The embarrassment from that was still aching in her brain, so she opted to just quietly slip out while Michael was distracted talking to Dave about architecture.

It was nice outside. The air was cool, and she was able to just relax for a second, still processing the events of the day. Not only was her Mother alive, but she had totally turned over a new leaf.  
Part of her wanted to scream at the injustice of the situation, but she couldn’t bring herself to.  
Her Mother finally seemed happy, something Eleanor had never seen in her life, ever.  
It’s just a shame that she couldn’t have been the one to give her that happiness.

“Hey.”

Eleanor turned around to see Michael standing in the doorway. He was holding a plate piled with snacks from the buffet. Eleanor noticed a few of her preferences on her. At first, she was surprised he knew what her favourite snacks were, but then she remembered that he had known her for over three hundred years, apparently, so she needed to get used to that.

“It was just getting interesting in there,” he continued. Eleanor rolled her eyes.  
“PTA Meetings suck. That’s why I left.”  
“Sure it is.”  
Michael walked over to her, and she turned to face him properly.  
“What you got there?” she asked.  
Michael looked down at the plate. “Oh, just some nibbles to tide you over. I know you get hungry when you’re sad.”  
Eleanor laughed. “Fair enough.”  
She accepted the plate silently, opting to eat a shrimp that had been carefully placed at the top of the pile.  
“Donna and Dave are just chatting with the other parents,” Michael explained, moving to lean on the pillar opposite to her. When Eleanor didn’t reply, he sighed softly. “Eleanor, I’m sorry that this has happened.”

“Nah, man. It’s fine. You were right- she is happy. I should be happy for her.”  
A silence.  
“Are you happy for her?” Michael prodded. Eleanor shrugged.  
“I’m not sure. I was so certain she was just scamming those suckers, but now I know that she’s serious about it… it hurts a bit, won’t lie. It hurts more than the time I snuck into a club through the smashed window at the back of the girls’ toilets and the girls in there reported me and got me kicked out. I mean, what happened to the girl code?”  
Michael didn’t reply, so Eleanor sagged, moving to sit on first step.

“I’m fine, really,” she said glumly. Michael chuckled, moving to sit next to her.  
“If you say so.”  
The two sat in silence for a while.  
“I know it’s hard,” Michael added after a while. “I don’t have parents, but Shawn the Demon taught me everything I know. The fact that we’re now on opposing sides wasn’t something I thought would hurt, but it did. I was hoping to change him as I changed, but no. So maybe you should see it as a good thing even if it hurts.”  
“I do think it’s a good thing,” Eleanor insisted. “I just wish it had happened sooner. All this time I blamed my bad actions on her, but if she had just changed sooner, maybe I wouldn’t have turned out such a failure.”

Eleanor didn’t realise she was crying until Michael handed her a handkerchief from his suit pocket.  
“You’re not a failure, Eleanor. I can’t explain to you the amount of times you figured me out when I was trying to-”  
“Torture me?”  
Michael squirmed. “Yes, torture you. If it weren’t for you, I’d be enjoying my promotion in The Bad Place right about now.”  
Eleanor looked at him, and Michael squirmed again.  
“That’s a bad thing, to clarify. All of this, it happened because of you. Don’t be so quick to think that you’re a failure. You’ve come so far- remember that.” He paused. “Not only that, but… you might not think you were worth changing for, but you’d be surprised how much I’ve changed thanks to you.”  
Before Eleanor could reply, the door to the school opened, and parents began to filter out, chatting. The two of them stood, waiting for Donna, Dave and Patricia.

***

Their conversation didn’t continue until late that night. Michael was sitting in the guest bedroom, drawing up some designs for Dave, as a thank you for his hospitality. He had been especially excited to try out using an elastic band to wrap the plans in once he had rolled them up, but using a ball-point pen was another invigorating experience he wouldn’t forget for a while.

The door opened, and Eleanor came inside slowly, donned in pyjamas. Michael turned around and gave her a smile.  
“You look ready for bed.” Eleanor smiled a little, nodding.  
“I just had a great chat with my Mum. I found the cash she was hiding, but she swears it’s just in case. She genuinely seems happy here, and I think I’m happy for her.”  
Michael smiled at her. “I know you are.”  
Eleanor smirked at him. “Alright, big guy. I know you’re an immortal being or whatever but let me have this.”

She moved to peer over his shoulder. “That looks detailed as hell. Is it for Dave?”  
“Yeah!” Michael replied eagerly. “I reckon it’ll solve all this architecture problems. You humans have such a simplistic brain capacity, I’m not surprised he needed a little push.”  
Eleanor smiled, and decided against telling him that the plans were missing bathrooms.  
Instead she turned and flopped on the bed, suddenly feeling utterly exhausted.

“Hey, by the way,” she said with a yawn. “It’s pretty cool that you did that.”  
“Did what?” Michael asked, spinning around in the wheelie chair to face her, and trying to ignore the thrill of doing so. Once she was asleep, he would spend most of the night spinning.  
“Changing. It’s pretty cool. And it’s not just because of me, but that meant a lot. I'm glad to have you, demon buddy.”  
She flopped her head down on the pillow, allowing Michael to grin as widely as he could without her seeing. It felt so good to have his best friend back in his life again.

“Oh, Eleanor,” he whispered, as he was pretty sure she was asleep. “You may never know how much I'm glad to have you too.”  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! :)


End file.
